By the Sea
by Starrika
Summary: Victoire loves the sea, and the conversation she shares with her grandmother, Mère Appolline. Victoire/Teddy.


Victoire loved the sea. There was something inherently satisfying about visiting Mère Appolline in her villa on the coast of the Riviera – she could run down over the hot sand and stick her feet in the cold water whenever she wished. Some days, when they weren't visiting family or roaming Antibes, Mère Appolline would come with her to stretch out on the beach while Victoire swam in the waves. Their skin would turn golden, and Mère Appolline would show her Glamours to hide the tiny freckles that would dot her nose.

Dominique and Louis only came when Mum made them. They thought visiting Mère Appolline dull, especially since Grandpère had passed away. They preferred Granny Weasley, who fed them treats and let them run around with Hugo and James all day in the meadow. They didn't understand Mère Appolline, but they were boys. If there was one thing Victoire had learned quickly about the male species, it was that they were ruled by their stomachs. Mère Appoline's soufflés and salmon mousse couldn't compare in their eyes – or stomachs – to Granny Weasleys biscuits and bangers.

Victoire, however, visited Mère Appolline every summer in addition to the family visits over the hols. It was these visits that were special. Perhaps it was Mère Appolline, the sea, or even France in general, but Victoire felt easier in her skin. The days here floated by like an afternoon on a raft, lulled to contentment by the waves.

With Mère Appolline, there was no condemnation of her long, blonde hair and blue eyes, or the way she could smile that would make men give her anything. Instead, Mère Appolline reveled in it. Each summer, she would take Victoire on a day trip to Paris to buy her a new set of clothes and watch her charm the boys working in the shoppes. She would teach Victoire just the right turn of a phrase, or the right flick to her hair, which would send men running for whatever she'd requested. She was only one-eighth Veela, but Mère Appolline told her she had to make the most of it.

Whenever she returned from visiting Mère Appolline, Mum would tell her to stop being an incorrigible flirt. Mum always smiled when she said it, though, so Victoire reckoned she didn't mind much.

Mère Appolline was also the one she could talk to about Teddy. Mum had been her former confidante. However, Mum was always too busy with the boys now – Louis had developed a penchant for setting things on fire wandlessly, with Dominique always egging him on. With Mère Appolline, Victoire didn't have to share, except occasionally with Aunt Gabrielle. Aunt Gabrielle was like the woman Victoire wanted to grow up and be someday, with her sharp wit and perfect clothes, so she didn't mind too much. Aunt Gabrielle only visited when she could get away from the University of Montreal-Magique, anyway, so it wasn't much of a share.

When it was just her and Mère Appolline, they would go down to the private beach, dotted with rocks, and notify Tinette the house elf to intercept any owls and fire calls. Mère Appolline would pack tiny little sandwiches full of cucumber and bottles of Perrier. Then they would stretch out on blankets charmed to keep cool on the hot sand, and close their eyes against the sun. Mère Appolline would set some sort of timer with her wand that would chime when they were supposed to turn and to slather on more Potion.

Then they would talk.

At first, it was Mère Appolline telling stories of her youth – the famed beauty of Provence and the beaux that she had. Mère Appolline's hair was more silver than blonde now, but her figure was still as slim as Mum's and her charm even stronger. Victoire adored her.

When Mère Appolline started to speak about meeting Grandpère, however, Victoire knew she had found someone who would truly understand about Teddy. Mère Appolline would not shoot her the disapproving looks that Granny Weasley would, if snogging him came up. Victoire also knew that Mère Appolline would never speak behind her back as if she were some sort of succubus, as she'd heard Granny Weasley do.

She'd told Mum about that, and she hadn't been back to the Burrow except for Christmas hols. She was seventeen, and she could do what she liked, even if Dad protested. He rationalized that Granny Weasley was from a different time, and that she would come around to Victoire eventually – it was just her Veela powers that made Granny Weasley nervous.

"Nonsense," Mère Appolline countered. "She's still picking at your dear Maman after all these years – and that poor Hermione, brilliant girl. You'd think the only thing she could do right was bear children. She may be your grandmère, but I do not like that woman."

Victoire had wanted to explode. She hadn't used her powers at all on Teddy. Instead of rowing with Dad, who was really only trying to keep the peace, she'd come here a week early. She was missing the get-together at the Burrow for Uncle Charlie's visit –and Teddy. "I know. And I guess that's just the way Granny Weasley has always been – that's what Mum said, anyway. But now I don't know how to act around Teddy, because I feel like they're all watching me, waiting to see if he acts like he's been dunked in love potion. It's not fair."

There was a soft chime, and Victoire rolled over to her stomach with a huff. She stretched her legs out past the edge of the towel to let her toes burrow into the sand. Mère Appolline changed positions with more grace, giving her granddaughter a gentle smile in the process. "And how does Teddy feel about this? That is the important question, no?"

"I don't know," Victoire grumbled. "We've snogged a bit, but he hasn't said anything right out. He doesn't go mooning around me like some of the other boys, though. He probably doesn't care a whit, if he's heard a thing about it."

"You didn't tell him?" Mère Appolline asked.

"No. I mean, what do I say? By the way, Teddy, Gran Weasley thinks I've bewitched you, so don't snog me where the cousins can see anymore? It sounds ridiculous," Victoire added with a snort. "And like I expect him to snog me again."

"You don't?"

"I don't know – like I said, he hasn't said anything right out to me, other than he hoped he'd see me a lot this summer. I _liked_ flirting and letting things happen spontaneously and organically. That's how Aunt Gabrielle put it," she added, although the phrase had probably come from Mère Appolline originally. "It was fun. I don't want to ruin it by some serious talk about my powers and his infatuation and any other gossip Granny Weasley has heard."

Mère Appolline was silent for a moment. There was a tilt to her lips that gave her face a stronger cast, and Victoire knew that she was thinking. "Perhaps I should open my home to some visitors this summer," she mused. "What do you think of that, _ma puce_?"

"Really? Teddy could stay here?" Victoire asked, sitting up in her excitement.

"I do not see why not. I will be here, you will have a chaperone. He is nineteen," Mère Appolline said with a shrug of her shoulders. She smiled. "Then you may have all the time you like for your organic fun," she teased.

Victoire threw her arms around Mère Appolline and kissed her on both cheeks. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed. She was too excited to sit still. Running down to the water, Victoire swam into the waves and licked the salt from her lips when she rose.

Antibes felt like the best place in the world right now.


End file.
